As the 2023-24 school year winds down, four teachers in Colorado Springs School District 11 got one more surprise before breaking for the summer.

D-11 administrators each teacher with a gift of $11,000 at their respective schools Monday through the newly announced Teacher Impact Award.

Funded through a new donation from The Dakota Foundation, the award is given to educators whose students have demonstrated more than one year’s growth within a single school year, as evidenced by school test data.

Kyle Yeh, Coronado High School, Julie Lounello, Sabin Middle School, Sandra Briggs, Mitchell High School, and Laura Bomersbach, Steele Elementary School, were all announced as the first year’s winners.

Winners were selected based on this data and recommendations from principals, colleagues, and students.

“Total surprise,” D-11 spokesperson Jessica Wise said of each winner learned about their prize. “There was a genuine look of shock on all of their faces because they’re just not used to receiving $11,000.”

The new award is the latest in a long history of programs and initiatives in Colorado Springs through the Dakota Foundation. The nonprofit, established in 1997, is dedicated to supporting educational initiatives that foster social entrepreneurship and enhance self-sufficiency.

The foundation has helped fund Friends of the Children, Peak Education and the Community Impact fund for Workforce Housing throughout the Pikes Peak region in recent years.

Last year, the foundation, in partnership with Pikes Peak State College, began The Mitchell Promise which provides a path to free college for qualifying students from the high school. This would later expand to the D-11 promise for graduating students throughout the district. The Dakota Promise originally began offering similar scholarships to D-2 graduates in 2019.

In the years since developing the D-11 promise, the district has maintained a relationship with the foundation. When approached this spring about beginning a program specifically for recognizing and celebrating teachers, administrators “jumped” at the opportunity and selected its first winners in a matter of weeks.

“The #1 way to student achievement is access to high-quality instruction … we are humbled to have support from the Dakota Foundation and the Board of Education to celebrate our most excellent teachers with $11K cash rewards for demonstrating that over this last academic year,” D-11 superintendent Michael Gaal said in a press release.

The district and foundation agreed to a memorandum of understanding for three years and hope to continue the program in the years that follow.